On Wed, 11 Jul 2018 at 04:52, Clarke Sideroad <[email protected]> wrote: > > On 2018-07-10 11:41 AM, John Franklin wrote: > >> On Jun 25, 2018, at 6:14 PM, [email protected] wrote: > >> > >> I have to say your current computer is more than powerful enough for > >> your current uses and I would advise saving your money instead, perhaps > >> instead just buy a SSD for the primary drive and some storage disks for > >> storage. > >> Your current system is also pre-PSP so it lacks AMD's version of the > >> evil ME thus I very much suggest keeping it. > >> > >> If you insist on upgrading I would consider: > > [snip] > > > > Reinforcing Taiidan’s suggestions, something built around a low TDP CPU > > would be good. The power draw from the CPU is going to dominate the power > > consumption of the whole system, so going with something that has a low TDP > > will ensure you stay well inside your power budget. Desktop systems tend > > to be in the 65W to 95W zone, there are some 35W parts that are common in > > all-in-one systems, or look for something intended for laptops and embedded > > systems that are 15W TDP. > > > > Unfortunately, you can’t just buy a Core i3 7100U (15W TDP) and install it > > in your choice of motherboard and install all that in your favorite case. > > You’re looking at either barebones system (like an Intel NUC or a barebones > > Shuttle) or a mini-ITX+CPU kit. If you’re lucky, you can find a compact PC > > (think: one of the Dell small desktops) with a low TDP chip in it, probably > > a Celeron or Pentium Silver or the like. > > > > The FreeNAS forums will have some good hardware recommendations, although > > they may be biased towards systems with ECC memory support, a rare feature > > in the low TDP world. > > > > The good news is the last several years of CPU development have been all > > about performance per watt, not raw performance, so there are a lot of low > > TDP options out there with reasonable performance. Since your A8-3850 has > > a 100W TDP, just about anything will be an improvement. > > > > Good luck! > > > > > The existing hardware is few years old and made up of desktop CPUs > sharing a package with reasonably decent graphics processing, but not > quite as bad as the picture you paint. > It is quite a smart piece as long as you are not running something like > Seti@home with your spare cycles. > https://www.guru3d.com/articles-pages/amd-a8-3850-apu-review,10.html > > Clarke
Fortunately (or perhaps unfortunately), this machine has decided to pick itself up again and continue running without a single issue. Thanks for all the advice. I'll keep those hardware suggestions in mind and I'll be taking regular backups with clonezilla just-in-case something untoward happens. --Tom _______________________________________________ Dng mailing list [email protected] https://mailinglists.dyne.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/dng
